Featured Domains

Are you dialing back domain investments as you wait for new TLDs?

Tucows filed its 10-Q yesterday. In the report, Tucows suggested that domain name investors may be proceeding cautiously with aftermarket domain purchases this year as they wait for new top level domain names:

We have two primary buyers for our domain names – domain investors and businesses. While businesses domain sales continue to grow, we have begun to see evidence of domain investors interest slowing as they attempt to assess the impact the introduction of new gTLD’s may have on their businesses. Accordingly, until the impact of new gTLD’s can be appropriately assessed, we will be shifting our efforts towards appealing more to businesses while continuing to work with domain investors.

There are many reasons domain investors may proceed cautiously this year with the knowledge that new TLDs are coming soon.

Many domain investors are applying for new TLDs themselves, and may be reserving cash to support those ventures. Others may be putting cash on the sideline to register new TLDs when they come out. Some may be worried about what effect new TLDs will have on their existing portfolio, and are therefore treading carefully.

On the other hand, I know some investors who are spending more this year than usual as they try to buy the .com equivalent of strings that will be released as top level domains.

What about you? Is the imminent release of new TLDs changing how you approach your domain business right now?

Since you are asking us I am very curious ,as are most,as to what you are doing. It seems very hush hush on the blogs about the release of the new GTLDs. Date? Registrars? etc….I know you can do the preorder on United but who knows if what you register you will actually get. Personally I think most of the “Dot com preachers” are going to be cheating on Dot Com very soon and buying up as many great keywords as they can in the new GTLDs but telling us all that they are not.

@ Todd – it’s not really a hush hush thing. The issue is there are currently NO new TLDs that have made it through ICANN’s processes, no contracts are signed (the contract isn’t even finalized), etc. So there’s really nothing to report, not even down to the month, on when and where you’ll be able to register the domains. Everything is still up in the air.

Good phrases will be held for premium auctions, not like .com release where anything was reg fee game. .com will always be king, to much invested, it has just become untouchable for the average person.

The Com’s will get stronger as the dot whatever’s will fail as .mobi, .pro, .whatever did. Just look at EMD’s in these extensions. They are lucky to sell. Every company will want there .com one way or another.

I’m not doing anything different and basically are ignoring the new gtld’s as i have with all other previous gtld releases. there are simply far too many at once to even bother looking at them/thinking about them. i’ll just stick with what i know, let the risk takers have at these new things and see where we all stand when the dust settles.

@ David Gruttadaurio I do not agree that the new gTLDs and TLds are going to confuse anyone, ok; maybe some but for the most part it will not confuse people because most of us reply and access the internet for almost everything.

new TLD’s will be scam like .XXX. They advertise so much and people got them with $100 per year fees and now it’s going no where.Dot com will stay and people only knows dot com and it’s easy to remember. And some big fishes are using this weakness to buy cheap dot com.
why realestate.com is sold for 355 million dollar last week by Trulia. They couldn’t get their own .Property for less.